GOP Stalls Vote on Pick for Pentagon

By

Sara Murray and

Julian E. Barnes

Updated Feb. 14, 2013 8:28 p.m. ET

Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked, at least temporarily, Chuck Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary, leaving him damaged and offering the latest example of how fierce the partisan divide has become in Congress.

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Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked, at least temporarily, Chuck Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary, leaving him damaged and offering the latest example of how fierce the partisan divide has become in Congress. Sara Murray reports on Lunch Break. Photo: AP.

The procedural vote, a highly unusual step for a cabinet selection, means that Mr. Hagel's nomination has stalled but not failed. Still, the delay gives opponents more time to seek material to undermine the nomination of Mr. Hagel, a Vietnam combat veteran and former GOP senator from Nebraska, and adds to the rancor in Congress.

Thursday's vote also adds to the damage that Mr. Hagel has sustained during his bitter nomination fight. If confirmed, he would have to work on sensitive military and budget matters with a Republican Party that has now largely gone on record to oppose him.

Republicans had invoked rules to force Mr. Hagel to win 60 votes in the 100-member chamber, a standard that had never been applied to a nominee to lead the Pentagon. He received 58 votes.

Democrats protested the need to win 60 votes. "We've never had a secretary of defense filibustered before; there's nothing in the Constitution that says somebody should get 60 votes," President Barack Obama said Thursday, adding that Mr. Hagel deserves a vote. "It's just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I'm still presiding over a war in Afghanistan and I need a secretary of defense."

Republicans said they had sought a delay merely to gain more time for the White House to respond to their questions about Mr. Hagel's past speeches. Several GOP senators said they were willing to move forward with a vote after next week's recess, once they felt their colleagues had been given ample time to consider Mr. Hagel's nomination and seek more information.

"Unless there's a bombshell, we'll vote on Hagel" after the recess, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.). He added: "On our side, there's a consensus that we need more information and we have a right to get it."

In Thursday's vote, 58 senators voted to advance the nomination, and 40 voted against. Four Republicans voted with Democrats to advance the nomination: Sens. Mike Johanns of Mr. Hagel's home state of Nebraska; Thad Cochran of Mississippi; Susan Collins of Maine; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah voted "present.''

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans, a procedural move that allows him to call a new vote, likely on Feb. 25.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had expected to step down Friday. Defense officials said Thursday he would serve until his successor is confirmed.

The failure to approve Mr. Hagel means that Mr. Panetta next week will travel to Brussels to represent the U.S. in meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Mr. Panetta had said his January trip to London, Rome, Madrid and Lisbon would be his last overseas trip as secretary of defense, but now he will make at least one more.

Some U.S. officials argued that if Mr. Hagel were to be confirmed, his influence would be undiminished, and the friendships he built on Capitol Hill as a senator from Nebraska would quickly be rekindled.

But other current and former officials said the partisan divide that emerged in the Armed Services panel would not quickly fade, and the committee could become more divided, like other congressional committees.

"It's clear Sen. Hagel lacks the kind of political capital he will need in the bank upon assuming office to cut deals and persuade Congress to do things members have little appetite to do right now, like close bases, cancel more weapons programs and absorb budget cuts across the force," said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense expert at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

Winslow Wheeler, a defense expert at the left-leaning Project on Government Oversight, said Mr. Hagel's poor performance and mastery of facts during his confirmation hearing meant he would lack credibility on Capitol Hill, should he be confirmed. Thursday's vote leaves him "further damaged,'' he said.

He predicted that Mr. Hagel, if confirmed, would have a hard time pushing shifts in defense-spending priorities, and he would need support from all the military service chiefs to push through his initiatives.

The delay and controversy may also make Mr. Hagel a less effective manager, said current and former officials. Pentagon bureaucrats opposed to changes he might try to implement could view him as weak or a short-term leader, and resist his initiatives, hoping they can wait him out.

The vote Thursday put a partisan edge on the chamber that often touts its collegial spirit and its members' ability to work across the aisle. But, increasingly, 60 votes has become the standard for accomplishing anything in the Senate, a reminder that congeniality has frayed.

"The Republicans have made an unfortunate choice to ratchet up the level of obstruction here in Washington," said Mr. Reid. "Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, it gets worse."

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) also said partisan lines were more brightly drawn: "There's no doubt that the Senate is more partisan than in the past."

On the Senate floor Thursday, the decision to vote came down to a battle of wills between the GOP and Democrats. Republican leaders warned that Mr. Hagel would not have the 60 votes necessary to proceed. But Mr. Reid, the Democratic leader, pushed forward with a vote anyway.

It was a moment of political theater on all sides, as many Republicans voted against proceeding with the nomination while admitting they would happily vote to proceed after a week. While Mr. Hagel's supporters needed 60 votes to advance the nomination, they will need a simple majority of 51 votes on the separate matter of whether to approve his confirmation.

The 60-vote requirement has been applied only to five nominees who would currently be considered of cabinet rank since rules creating that standard were set in 1975, according to a 2012 Congressional Research Service report. Only one, John Bolton, President George W. Bush's nominee to be United Nations ambassador in 2005, failed to win confirmation. At the time, the post wasn't afforded cabinet rank. Mr. Bolton took the post under a recess appointment by Mr. Bush.

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